


Scenes from the ACOTAR series from different character POV's

by siri_writes



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:42:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21576238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siri_writes/pseuds/siri_writes
Summary: This is a compilation of one-shots of scenes from the entire ACOTAR series from different characters' point of views. Majority of the scenes are from Rhys' POV and are mainly from ACOMAF. Includes original scenes that aren't in the book, but are based on scenes from the series. Most of these one-shots are separate stories on my account as well. Includes ACOFAS and after.
Relationships: Amren/Varian (ACoTaR), Elain Archeron/Azriel, Feyre Archeron & Rhysand, Feyre Archeron/Rhysand, Nesta Archeron & Cassian, Nesta Archeron/Cassian
Kudos: 37





	1. After 50 years -Rhys returns home from Under the Mountain

**Author's Note:**

> The characters belong to Sarah J Maas and her phenomenal ACOTAR series.

It had been 50 years. 50 goddamn years and my cousin still had not returned home. Every time I thought of him, my entire being went sick with tremendous guilt at the thought that I had not been enough to save him. I was going to kill that bastard when he returned home. If he returned home. For throwing a shield over the Night Court so that none of us were able to get out.

I saw the looks on Azriel’s and Cassian’s faces sometimes. Their combined guilt far deeper than mine could ever be. For it had been their brother that they had not been able to save. They had not been able to save that same brother that had time and time again saved them.

Even Amren did not make as many jokes, demand as many jewels. He had always been the one that had bound our group together. The centre of the circle for whom each of us was unfulfilled without. 50 years. That female had kept him under that supposedly sacred mountain for 50 damned years and likely sentenced him to all manner of torturing.

I walked into the terrace of the townhouse, desperately needing some fresh air to distract me from my morose. thoughts. I saw a male there, with his wings spread out, looking out over the city. I did not even register the black hair that was tinged with flecks of blue or the fine clothes the male adorned. “Get the hell out, Cassian. The balcony is mine right now.”

The male turned around and my jaw dropped. Standing right before me was Rhys. But surely… No. I had just been thinking about him. This was nothing more than a cruel trick of the light, mocking my guilt and sorrow at my cousins’ loss. But then he spoke, and I knew it truly was the High Lord of the Night Court.

“She’s my mate. She’s my mate. My mate. My mate.” I was already at a loss for words, but the feral yet empty look in his eyes unhinged me. And this… mate of his. Surely not. Surely the cauldron couldn’t be so cruel as to make that bitch his mate.

He came up to me and grabbed my shoulders, shaking it violently. As if I had not heard the first time, he said, “she’s my mate, Mor. And she’s with him.”

I recovered barely enough to find my voice. “Surely not… Amarantha?” The tremor in my voice was apparent. The shock of seeing my cousin after 50 whole years shaking me. I did not blink for fear that he would disappear again, and I would be left alone with my guilt and misery.

“No. Not her. Feyre.” He said that name as if it was the most important word he had ever said. The name on his tongue was a prayer and declaration of love at the same time. I grabbed his hand, leading him to one of the iron chairs on the rooftop and embraced him.  
This male, who together with Cassian and Azriel had saved me from a fate far worse than death. And then we were both crying. Me with the shock of seeing my cousin again after so many years and him with the shock that he now had a mate. We stayed that way for a very long time. It could’ve seconds or minutes or hours. I didn’t know.

“Tell me everything,” I said.

And so, he did.

The story was so ridiculously astounding that I would’ve thought he was lying were it not for the way he had returned home. The story of this young, human female who had freed the entire land single-handedly. And Rhys told me how four years ago, he had received visions of a beautiful, human woman painting flowers on a table. And then he told me how he had seen her in person for the first time during the Calanmai celebrations at the Spring Court. Rhys had had lovers but never had he ever truly loved someone as he did now. I could tell how enamoured he was with this human-turned-fae female. How irrevocably in love he was.

And she was his mate. His mate, who was in love with the High Lord of the Spring Court.

Then, suddenly I heard the flapping of two wings and both Rhys and I looked skyward. Cassian and Azriel, not properly seeing who it was beside me put their hands on their weapons as they slowly made their way towards the ground. Cassian called out in that large voice of his, “Mor, please take your companion elsewhere, I want to be able to eat.”

Rhys had turned around to face me so they couldn’t see who it was, but he rose and turned around just as they landed. “Do I look so different that you don’t even recognise your own High Lord?”

They both froze in their footsteps and just stared at Rhys. Finally, Cassian drew his sword and levelled it at Rhys, “I’m usually quite tolerable, but when someone pretends to be my High Lord, you can find I get quite… angry.”

Rhys simply pushed the sword away from where it was aimed at his throat without an ounce of fear in his life. “Really, Cassian?” he then turned to face me. “Has something happened in the last fifty years I was gone? I don’t quite remember Cassian as being tolerable.”

And that’s how Cassian and Azriel knew it was really him. Cassian made to move towards Rhys, but his knees gave out and he sank to his knees, yet still not taking his eyes off Rhys, as if trying to drink in the sight. Azriel still had not moved from the spot where he had frozen, he too drinking in the sight of Rhys standing there in flesh and blood. Cassian finally rose, although tears were still unashamedly streaming down his face as he went to hug his brother for the first time in 50 years. And Rhys hugged him just as fiercely. Soon Azriel gained enough coherency to move to embrace his brother as well. And finally, after half a century, the three brothers were once again reunited.

“You absolute prick. We were stuck in this court for 50 bloody years, while you went through hell and back. I am going to pummel you.”

Azriel had finally managed to find his voice. “And I’ll help him.”

But there was no true bite to their words. For Rhys’ smile had completely vanished at the mention of that place. What had happened? What had shaken this unshakeable High Lord so thoroughly, that he had returned home like this. This body whose soul was empty and whose heart did not belong to him. I just wanted the carefree, flirtatious and loveable Rhys back. I wanted the cousin who had told me jokes at a time when I had not cared if I was alive or dead. And now he felt the same way.

It was my duty as his subject and his friend and his family to make that laugh return. It was mine, and Cassian’s and Azriel’s and Amren’s. I had complete faith that it would happen. It had to happen. Because immortality was too long to be living in sorrow. So, I jumped up and said, “we’re going to go out for dinner. We’re going to go to the place by the Sidra that serves amazing food. And then, we’re going to go to Rita’s and dance.”

**  
Amren had hurried to the townhouse when we had said there was something she urgently needed to see, and it was of utmost importance. She had burst in through the door and before reaching the terrace, her voice carrying up the stairs as she had climbed to the top. “If the dogs are just playing around again, Morrigan, and you need my help babysitting them, I swear-”

She had seen Rhys and had frozen for a moment before walking straight up to Rhys and slapping him across the face. Rhys had looked at her in astonishment and the rest of us had gaped. “You idiot. What made you think it was a good idea to go to that party alone. And then you had the nerve to put wards all around the Night Court so that we couldn’t even get out. And then no reports of whether you were alive or dead for 50 years? You couldn’t think to send us one letter saying that you were alive?”

Rhys had had a half-amused smirk on his lips, before bowing deeply to Amren and saying, “I apologise.”

We were now walking along the Sidra, back from Rita’s and none of that amusement was lingering in Rhys’ eyes. He looked at everything, not missing a single detail, while he said in a quiet voice to himself. “It’s real. I’m here. I’m free.” We all pretended not to hear him.

This would have to be enough for now. But I would get my cousin back.


	2. Until the mother envelopes us in her darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A one-shot when Rhys returns home from Under the Mountain and the Inner Circle is having dinner at the House of Wind. From Mor's POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second instalment in my POV series. It's a one-shot of when Rhys and the rest of the Inner Circle are having dinner at the House of Wind. Enjoy.

We all stared at Rhys, who had barely improved in the past month that he'd been home. Every day, he would rise and pretend that everything was normal, that he was normal. But he wasn't. Unbeknownst to him, we all knew that every night he'd get up and throw up in his bathroom. And then he wouldn't sleep for the rest of the night. The bags under his eyes told us as much.

Amren finally broke the silence. "High Lord, it is… necessary that you take the time to visit the Court of Nightmares soon. They have been out of control for too long, and it is time their High Lord returns to take control."

Rhys simply looked up and stared Amren straight in her eyes, "no." He said it so quietly, yet with such force that the rest of us knew not to challenge that tone. Then, surprisingly, Cassian spoke up.

"Rhys, tell us what to do. What can we do to help?" His voice was so vulnerable and so unlike Cassian that I looked up and stared at the General who commanded Rhys's armies. Cassian had tears running down his face. He was looking in earnest at Rhys, who did not look back and simply stared at the wine in front of him.

"There is nothing. And I wish I could tell you otherwise, but it is true. No amount of health on your part can-" suddenly Rhys closed his eyes and started saying, "no, no, no." I jumped up and ran to Rhys embracing him around his middle. He slowly began to calm down and opened his eyes. "I'm fine."

We all looked in disbelief at him but did not utter another word. The rest of the meal continued mostly without disturbance and with no contribution from Rhys. A servant with beautiful, red hair walked in and began clearing the plates, beginning with Rhys's. He simply stared at her hair as she moved around the table, efficiently collecting the plates. Her hair. Red. Like Amaranth- "You may leave." My voice rang out clear and commanding and the servant bowed once before walking out of the room. We all stared at Rhys and saw glistening tears slide down his face.

He said to no one in particular, "I can't stand this. I watched her die and there was nothing I could do to stop it. With all my power and skill, there was nothing I could do to prevent that bitch from snapping her neck. He won't even help her. Every night, she wakes up and has nightmares, yet he acts like they don't exist. He acts like her problems will be solved over time. He thinks, that if he ignores them, she will start acting normal again. She won't."

He couldn't even refer to her by her name. Amren realised this as well. "Say her name, Rhysand."

"I can't."

Amren glared at him. "Say it."

"Feyre. Her name is Feyre."

The way he said it… It was as if he did not want to ever stop saying it. As if her very name was like and prayer on his tongue.

Then Azriel, who had always been a male of limited words spoke up. "What does she look like?"

Rhys smiled, one of the very few that we'd seen since he had returned from that hellhole. "She has brown hair with streaks of bronze that flow in waves down to her lower back. Her eyes are grey, but flecks of brilliant blue. She's very nearly as stubborn as me and has a fine temper to go along with it. I wish I could've heard her laugh, I think it would've been beautiful. I never even got to see her truly smiling. Because in that place, even I forgot how to smile. Even I forgot what joy and love was."

"You ask why I can't go to the Court of Nightmares, Amren. It's because Amarantha modelled her home after it. She modelled her bedroom-," his voice cracked at these words, "she modelled her bedroom after the throne room in that hideous place. And I can't go back there again. I can't go back to that place when I only just escaped."

We all looked at him in shock. We still did not know exactly what Rhys had been forced to endure in that place, but we knew it had been bad.

Cass rose from his seat and clapped his hand on Rhys's back. "We're here with you now Rhys, and you have to deal with us until the mother takes you away from us; and even then, we'll go together."


	3. Starfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The iconic Starfall scene from Rhys' point of view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fanfic series is not necessarily in chronological order, sorry about that.

I glanced around the large hall to where I saw Azriel and Cassian talking to some of their friends that dwelled within this beautiful city. I gazed at the sky where the stars gazed back, their twinkling eyes meeting mine as they lay within their own blanket of darkness. The joyful music echoed through the hall and bounced off the walls and drifted into my ears. It was music that spoke the language of joy and love. Music that showed the beauty in living and simply being. The light emanating from the crystal chandelier above me reflected off the pale walls, creating an earthly glow throughout the room.

Last year had been my first Starfall for fifty years where I did not have to service- No. I had promised I would not think of those years where I had not been able to see the stars making their journey to wherever they wished to roam. How they shot across the sky with freedom glistening brightly in their veins and a sense of adventure in their hearts. For these stars were not merely stars. They were spirits of some sort. Spirits that lessened year by year, but still remained to guide me. During those years, the thought that had kept me going was the vision of the open night sky. How their quiet beauty guided all those travelling in the wrong direction. How it had beauty if you knew where to look, but from a distance it looked menacing and like a task that could never be conquered.

This starfall especially was one of joy. For Feyre had finally come to my court and started to accept both me and my court for who we were. My mate had come. The word echoed through my body, filling my heart with quiet hope and love and the fact that this beautiful female who had no idea of her worth had come into my life and saved me. Mate.

Yet only two days ago, she had called me a mess. Who would argue with her? Yes, I was the supposedly all-powerful High Lord of the Night Court, yet this female could make me weak in the knees with one single sentence. She had no idea of the power she wielded. With just one sentence, she wounded me enough that I had neither seen nor talked to her for two days, though my instincts had roared at me to speak to her. Her attempts at creating peace between us had been flattering enough that even though I had not been planning to attend this starfall celebration, some voice inside me had told me to go and enjoy the opportunity to spend time with my mate, possibly dance with her.

The simple thought that I may get to hold her in my arms and sway to the joyous music with her for even one dance was enough to make me start smiling like an idiot. I heard a bright chirping behind me and turned to see Mor standing there with her arms crossed and glaring at me. Mor knew more than she let on, and I knew she had immediately known when Feyre and I had fought. My cousin spoke, "Are you going to mope here all night? Stop feeling sorry for yourself and go and speak to her!" I looked in the direction in which my cousin was pointing, and my heart stopped beating.

She wore that beautiful crystal, pale-blue dress that my mother had lovingly woven 400 years ago, and which shimmered and glittered with every step she took. She wore those cuffs of pure diamonds around her slender wrists that I had purchased secretly two weeks ago in preparation for starfall. Her golden-brown hair gleamed under the light of the chandelier and was swept up by two, golden combs which were shaped like Illyrian wings. The dress perfectly accentuated each of her curves. Where pure skin and bone had been months ago, now stood fat in just the right places which made her radiate grace and beauty. Her lips were lightly painted red, and a slight smile graced her lips at something someone beside her had said. Her beautiful blue-grey eyes twinkled as they lit up with joy, and my heart filled to the point of pain. I started loving her all over again, that endless affection I had for her overflowing from my heart. I took the moment to simply drink her in from where I stood.

I slowly strode towards her, not entirely conscious of my movements that were fuelled by overwhelming love. As I advanced towards them, I recognised that it was Mor chatting with Feyre, and I smiled slightly at the discussion they were having.

"-and it's irritated him for centuries that I never looked back," Mor said.

"Oh, it drives him insane," I intercepted. Feyre jumped slightly when she heard my voice from behind her. I circled her, and the smirk came easily to my lips. "You look like a woman again," I commented.

"You really do know how to complement females, cousin," she said as she saw a friend in the distance and strode off to meet her.

I saw Feyre casually examine my clean-cut black suit, which was casually unbuttoned at the top to reveal the crisp, white shirt beneath it, which was also unbuttoned to show off a portion of my toned chest. I saw Feyre look and attempt to look away while absolutely failing. It provided me with a sense of male satisfaction that she found me attractive and had a difficult time keeping her eyes off me.

"Do you plan to ignore me some more?" She coolly asked.

"I'm here now aren't I? I wouldn't want you to call me a hateful coward again," for she had. She had called me that and much more two days ago, when both of us had gone too far. I saw a glimpse of guilt in her eyes and immediately felt the need to remove any trace of sadness from her. "I wasn't punishing you. I just… I needed time."

She quickly changed the subject and I could tell she did not want to have this conversation right here. "Will you please tell me what this… gathering is about?" Again, that curiosity. Even in her worst days after Under the Mountain, she had still retained that curious mind and had suffered because she had a lack of information. Because Tamlin had not deemed her either worthy or important enough to share information with her, and it had almost destroyed her from within.

I stepped up behind her shoulder and leaned as close as a lover and whispered in her ear, "look up," I said.

She looked up and I saw her eyes widen with amazement before developing a small gleam in her eye. "No speech for your guests?"

"Tonight, is not about me," I replied. I added on as a sidenote, "though my presence is appreciated and noted." I spied a star spirit in the distance and pointed at it while still remaining close to her. "Tonight, is about that." The star shot across the sky leaving a starry trail in its' wake. The crowd around me and the city below me erupted into applause and raised their glasses to the star and drank only when the star had passed. Feyre leaned into me, before realising what she had done and quickly stepping away. Suddenly a whole stream of stars shot across the sky and Feyre lighted up with wonder. My own eyes were alight with joy as I stared at those stars. No matter how many times I had ever witnessed this spectacular display, I was still as amazed as the first time I had seen this. People started dancing around us and the music restarted with renewed energy. I saw Mor dancing between Azriel and Cassian with her hands raised in the air and her head tilted towards the sky. I looked at them with sadness. I had finally reunited with them after 50 years, but the threat of war loomed in the distance.

I saw Feyre glance back at me and spied the understanding in her eyes. Before she could comment, I said, "Come, there's a better view. More quieter." I lead her through the hall onto one of the many balconies jutting out from the palace. When we arrived at the balcony she sat on the rail, but immediately decided against it once she saw the distance to the ground. "You know I would bother to save you before you hit the ground."

"But not until I was close to death?" She asked.

"Maybe," was my only reply.

"As punishment for what I said to you?"

"I said some horrible things too." Yes, we had both said terrible things to each other.

"I didn't mean it," she blurted out. "I meant it more about myself than you. I'm sorry."

"You were right though," I replied. "I stayed away because you were right. Though I'm glad to hear my absence felt like a punishment."

She smiled and went silent again. I wished she would let down her shields and let me into that beautiful brain of hers. I longed to know what she thought about in those moments she went quiet. "Any news with the orbs or the queens?" She asked.

"No. we're still waiting for them to deign to reply." They likely would not reply for a good while, simply to prove that they too held power.

"They're not stars at all," she murmured. The wonder in her voice as she gazed at the bright lights that flew across the sky was apparent. And I loved her for it. I loved the burning curiosity that she often his deep within her. I loved that part of her. I loved every single, damn part of her, and it ate me alive. That bastard had realised that she was worth more than the whole universe. He had known that the brightest and most precious gems didn't hold a candle to the amount of beauty she possessed.

"No," I answered her as I went to stand beside her at the rail. "Our ancestors thought they were, but… they're just spirits, on a yearly migration to somewhere. Why they pick this day to appear here, no one knows."

I just looked at her, taking in her beauty. She sensed my gaze and turned to face me. Our eyes connected for a moment too long. "There must be hundreds of them." She said that like she was attempting to break the silence that had sprung up between us when we had locked eyes. She said it as if it was an effort to not look at me. I had known that she found me attractive. That had been her very first thought that fateful day on Calanmai when I had first laid eyes on her. But I was slowly beginning to realise that perhaps there was some part of her that actually desired it. Desired me.

"Thousands. They'll keep coming until dawn. Or, I hope they will. There were less and less of them the last time I witnessed Starfall."

I realised how truly long ago that had been. Fifty years. Every year on Starfall, the thoughts of the beautiful sky above me had been what had kept me sane, but now it was an effort to take my eyes off the female in front of to even look at the ablaze sky.

"What happened to them?" She asked. Again, that curiosity that I loved so much.

I simply shrugged and said, "I wish I knew, but they keep coming back despite it."

"Why?"

"Why does anything cling to something? Maybe they love wherever they're going so much that it's worth it. Maybe they'll keep coming back, until there's only one star left. Maybe that one star will make the trip forever, out of the hope that someday-if it keeps coming back often enough-another star will find it again." It was reminiscent with my feelings for Feyre. I had only just begun to let that small hope that she may finally be returning a fraction of what I felt towards her.

"That's… a very sad thought."

"Indeed." I rested my forearms on the balcony, close enough for her to touch if she wanted to. The silence that lingered after my statement was apparent. There were still too many unspoken words between us. But now was not the time for those. I felt the need to share what had happened to me Under the Mountain with her. I had not told any of my friends, for fear that their guilt that they had not been able to save me, threatened to swallow them whole. But… I felt like I could tell Feyre. I felt like I could tell her what had happened, and I knew she would not judge me for my decisions. She was the only one who truly understood me.

So, I told her. "Every year that I was Under the Mountain and Starfall came around, Amarantha made sure I… serviced her. The entire night. Starfall is no secret, even to outsiders- even the Court of Nightmares crawls out of the Hewn City to look up at the sky. So she knew… She knew what it meant to me." I felt a sudden surge of anger through the bond.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"I got through it by reminding myself that my friends were safe; that Velaris was safe. Nothing else mattered, so long as I had that. She could use my body however she wanted. I didn't care"

"So why aren't you down there with them?" She asked, jerking her chin towards where Mor, Az and Cass were dancing amongst the starlight.

"They don't know-what she did to me on Starfall. I don't want it to ruin their night."

"I don't think they would. I think they'd be happy if you let them shoulder the burden." I knew they would. I knew that they would be more than willing to hear what had happened. But maybe it wasn't so much that they wouldn't listen. Maybe it was more of the fact that I did not want to offer up that broken part of me to them. They would never turn me away. But they would never truly understand. But Feyre, she did. She understood because she had been there. She had been in that wretched place and had seen the monstrosities that had occurred there.

But I answered her, perhaps a bit defensively. "The same way you rely on others to shoulder your burdens?" I did not mind that she did one bit. But perhaps these were one of those unspoken remnants from our argument that needed to be voiced.

Her fingers grazed mine, and I stilled at that touch. I waited to see what more she would do. What she allowed. She turned to face me properly when pale, green light slammed into her face. She bent over as she cried out in surprise. And I laughed. For the first time in so long I laughed.

She turned to face me with fury in her blue-grey eyes. "I could've been blinded!" She yelled at me. I took one more look at her face and truly laughed. It was a sound that I had not made in so long. She wiped her face and looked down at the pale, green light strewn across her hand.

She reached up to her face to rub the star-spirit off her face, but I caught her hand. "Don't, it looks like your freckles are glowing." Her nostrils flared and she went to shove me off the balcony with that beautiful anger. I sidestepped her but in the process was hit with my own star. "Shit," I yelled as I leaned back in surprise. I was about to say more when I heard the most amazing sound I had ever heard. I looked back at her in amazement to see if what I had heard was true. She was laughing. She was actually laughing. She laughed again and again as she stared at my face. And it was the best music in the world. No sound in the universe could compare to the sound of her brilliant laugh.

I forced myself to look down at my star-strewn hands as I heard her approach me. She took my hand in hers and slowly drew a star. She played with the light and dark until it looked exactly like one of the stars that had hit us both. I tightened my hands around hers as I smiled at her. I let that mask completely drop. I let the mask of the High Lord of the Night Court completely drop. She looked up at me smiling and smiled herself. My mouth dropped open as I stared at this female in front of me. The smile completely vanished as I stared at her with my mouth open. Her own smile vanished but I couldn't stand it.

"Smile again," I said. And so, she did. She gave me a smile so brilliant that even the stars above weren't that bright. She was a goddess, a goddamn goddess. As I stared at that face that I cherished so much, I fell in love, over and over again. Fell in love so irrevocably that I knew there was no going back. I would never, ever love someone as much as I did her. My heart would never hurt and ache for someone as much as it did for her. For this queen among all females that stood before me. "You're exquisite," I breathed.

She did not step back, did not shy away from my presence. Instead she said, "you owe me two thoughts- back from when I first came here. Tell me what you're thinking."

I rubbed my neck with my free hand. "You want to know why I didn't speak or see you? Because I was so convinced that you'd throw me out on my ass." I dragged a hand through my raven hair. "I just… I figured hiding was a better alternative."

"Who would've thought that the High Lord of the Night Court could be afraid of an illiterate human?" She purred. I grinned at the teasing and nudged her playfully with my shoulder. "That's one, tell me another thought."

Cauldron damn my traitorous eyes. They fell upon her full lips as I said, "I'm wishing that I could take back that kiss from Under the Mountain."

"Why?"

I looked down at her hand instead of her face, partly because I was still ashamed about how I had acted that day. It had been to save her, but, "because I didn't make it pleasant for you. And I was jealous and pissed off and I knew you hated me." This was extremely dangerous territory. One wrong word from either of us, and we could break this fragile thing between us. I instead looked at her face again. I wanted her. And I was tired of hiding it. As I looked at her, I let that hunger show. But she was echoing the same feeling. My expression was mirrored on her face.

"Do you- do you want to dance with me?" She asked in a tentative voice. I stared at her, and I could feel the beginnings of tears lining my eyes.

I was near silent as I whispered, "you want to dance?"

"Down there. With them." She nodded towards where my friends were still dancing. Where everything was alive.

"Of course, I'll dance with you." The idea that I wouldn't if she truly desired it so abhorrent that I had to reassure her how truly willing I was. "All night if you wish."

"Even if I step on your toes?" I smiled at the ridiculous insecurity she showed.

"Even then," I whispered back. And cauldron, I knew it was reckless, but I did it anyway. I leaned in to brush my lips against her cheek, savouring the minor touch between us. I smiled at her as she looked up. "I am very glad I met you, Feyre."

She tugged on my hand, pulling me towards where music and light beckoned. "Come on," she said. "Let's go join the dance." I could've sworn I saw small tears forming in her eyes as well.

Dance we did. Feyre danced with Cassian and Mor, even with Azriel. I drank rich wine with Mor, argued with Cassian and laughed with Azriel about Cassian and Mors antics. When the music had turned slower and quieter, I had taken Feyre into my arms and swayed with her to the beat of the music. All the other guests had long since left and Cass, Mor and Az were half passed out, but still, Feyre and I danced. At some point she had leaned my her against my chest as we slowly danced. I was so tempted, at the moment, to tell her that it was more than just a bargain bond between us. But I did not want to ruin the moment. It was undoubtedly the best day I had ever experienced.

When she had begun to grow tired, I had taken her into my arms, holding her closer to my body than usual as we flew amongst the city lights back to the townhouse. We were both silent, simply basking in each other's presence. When I had dropped her off at her room, I had kissed her forehead and had retreated back into my room.

I had lain in my gigantic bed, simply thinking. I fell asleep, realising that though it may not compare to the unending love and passion I felt for her, she had begun to return at least a fraction of what I felt.

I fell into the land of blissful oblivion, my sleep permeated with dreams of happiness and love


End file.
